Barcelona has had Stripes on their Jerseys for Over 100 Years, that Changes in 2020

For the uninitiated barcelonistas the official motto of the FC Barcelona is “Més que un club“, which translates to, “More than a club”. The designers at Nike decided to take that passion-filled motto to heart with the design of the 19-20 kits.

Instead of last year’s design, which gave the kit a stripe for each district of Catalan, Nike honed in on one of Catalan’s most vibrant districts, Eixample. Located in the heart of Barcelona, the eixample district or expansion district, features an iconic strict grid pattern by the legendary architect Ildefons Cerdà. This pattern allowed not only greater traffic, and transport, but also superior ventilation, and more sunlight to be key factors of the architecture.

The famous grid layout of the Eixample district in Barcelona.

While the new checkered grid pattern doesn’t feature the octogonal city block shapes of Eixample, the symbolism is there front and center.

Gerard Pique, who has been in a Barcelona kit for the last 11 years had this to say, “It might be different, but it is 100 percent Barca and it is even better that the design represents the bond the club has with the supporters and the people who are driving the city forward.”

Famous Catalonian scientist Laura Soucek had this to say about Nike’s design reveal, “Barcelona is a special place and the football club is the heartbeat. We are all fans and the style with which they achieve their success inspires us every single day. Bringing everyone together like this really highlights the unique things that are happening in our community.” She ended up part of Nike’s photo shoot (bottom left, pictured right, below) to help show how much influence the club has on the entire population, not just diehard fans.